The anisotropic hyperelastic model provides a general capability for modeling
materials that exhibit highly anisotropic and nonlinear elastic behavior (such as biomedical
soft tissues and fiber-reinforced elastomers). The model is valid for large elastic strains
and captures the changes in the preferred material directions (or fiber directions) with
deformation.
The anisotropic hyperelastic material model:
provides a general capability for modeling materials that exhibit highly anisotropic and
nonlinear elastic behavior (such as biomedical soft tissues and fiber-reinforced
elastomers);
can be used in combination with large-strain time-domain viscoelasticity (Time Domain Viscoelasticity); however, viscoelasticity is isotropic;
optionally allows the specification of energy dissipation and stress softening effects
(see Mullins Effect); and
requires that geometric nonlinearity be accounted for during the analysis step (General and Perturbation Procedures) since it is
intended for finite-strain applications.
Many materials of industrial and technological interest exhibit anisotropic elastic
behavior due to the presence of preferred directions in their microstructure. Examples of
such materials include common engineering materials (such as fiber-reinforced composites,
reinforced rubber, and wood) as well as soft biological tissues (arterial walls, heart
tissue, etc.). When these materials are subjected to small deformations (less than 2–5%),
their mechanical behavior can generally be modeled adequately using conventional anisotropic
linear elasticity ( see Defining Fully Anisotropic Elasticity). Under large
deformations, however, these materials exhibit highly anisotropic and nonlinear elastic
behavior due to rearrangements in the microstructure, such as reorientation of the fiber
directions with deformation. The simulation of these nonlinear large-strain effects calls
for more advanced constitutive models formulated within the framework of anisotropic
hyperelasticity. Hyperelastic materials are described in terms of a “strain energy
potential,” , which defines the strain energy stored in the material per unit of
reference volume (volume in the initial configuration) as a function of the deformation at
that point in the material. Two distinct formulations are used for the representation of the
strain energy potential of anisotropic hyperelastic materials: strain-based and
invariant-based.
Strain-Based Formulation
In this case the strain energy function is expressed directly in terms of the components
of a suitable strain tensor, such as the Green strain tensor (see Strain measures):
where is Green's strain; is the right Cauchy-Green strain tensor; is the deformation gradient; and is the identity matrix. Without loss of generality, the strain energy
function can be written in the form
where is the modified Green strain tensor; is the distortional part of the right Cauchy-Green strain; is the total volume change; and is the elastic volume ratio as defined below in Thermal Expansion.
The underlying assumption in models based on the strain-based formulation is that the
preferred material directions are initially aligned with an orthogonal coordinate system
in the reference (stress-free) configuration. These directions might become nonorthogonal
only after deformation. Examples of this form of strain energy function include the
generalized Fung-type form described below.
Invariant-Based Formulation
Using the continuum theory of fiber-reinforced composites (Spencer, 1984) the strain
energy function can be expressed directly in terms of the invariants of the deformation
tensor and fiber directions. For example, consider a composite material that consists of
an isotropic hyperelastic matrix reinforced with families of fibers. The directions of the fibers in the reference
configuration are characterized by a set of unit vectors , (). Assuming that the strain energy depends not only on deformation, but
also on the fiber directions, the following form is postulated
The strain energy of the material must remain unchanged if both matrix and fibers in the
reference configuration undergo a rigid body rotation. Then, following Spencer (1984), the
strain energy can be expressed in terms of an irreducible set of scalar invariants that
form the integrity basis of the tensor and the vectors :
where and are the first and second deviatoric strain invariants; is the elastic volume ratio (or third strain invariant); and are the pseudo-invariants of , ; and , defined as:
The terms are geometric constants (independent of deformation) equal to the cosine
of the angle between the directions of any two families of fibers in the reference
configuration:
Unlike for the case of the strain-based formulation, in the invariant-based formulation
the fiber directions need not be orthogonal in the initial configuration. An example of an
invariant-based energy function is the form proposed by Holzapfel, Gasser, and Ogden
(2000) for arterial walls (see Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden Form below).
Anisotropic Strain Energy Potentials
There are four forms of strain energy potentials available in Abaqus to model approximately incompressible anisotropic materials:
the generalized Fung form (including fully anisotropic and orthotropic cases),
the Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden form for arterial walls,
the Holzapfel-Ogden form for passive myocardium tissue, and
the Kaliske-Schmidt form for reinforced polymeric materials and biomaterials.
These forms are adequate for modeling soft biological tissue. However, whereas Fung's
form is purely phenomenological, the other forms are micromechanically based.
In addition, Abaqus provides a general capability to support user-defined forms of the strain energy
potential via two sets of user subroutines: one for strain-based and one for invariant-based
formulations.
Generalized Fung Form
The generalized Fung strain energy potential has the following form:
where U is the strain energy per unit of reference volume; and D are temperature-dependent material
parameters; is the elastic volume ratio as defined below in Thermal Expansion; and is defined as
where is a dimensionless symmetric fourth-order tensor of anisotropic material
constants that can be temperature dependent and are the components of the modified Green strain tensor.
The initial deviatoric elasticity tensor, , and bulk modulus, , are given by
Abaqus supports two forms of the generalized Fung model: fully anisotropic and orthotropic.
The number of independent components that must be specified depends on the level of anisotropy of the
material: 21 for the fully anisotropic case and 9 for the orthotropic case.
Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden Form
The form of the strain energy potential is based on that proposed by Holzapfel, Gasser,
and Ogden (2000) and Gasser, Ogden, and Holzapfel (2006) for modeling arterial layers with
distributed collagen fiber orientations:
with
where U is the strain energy per unit of reference volume; , D, , , and are temperature-dependent material parameters; is the number of families of fibers (); is the first deviatoric strain invariant; is the elastic volume ratio as defined below in Thermal Expansion; and are pseudo-invariants of and .
The model assumes that the directions of the collagen fibers within each family are
dispersed (with rotational symmetry) about a mean preferred direction. The parameter () describes the level of dispersion in the fiber directions. If is the orientation density function that characterizes the distribution
(it represents the normalized number of fibers with orientations in the range with respect to the mean direction), the parameter is defined as
It is also assumed that all families of fibers have the same mechanical properties and
the same dispersion. When the fibers are perfectly aligned (no dispersion). When the fibers are randomly distributed and the material becomes isotropic;
this corresponds to a spherical orientation density function.
The strain-like quantity characterizes the deformation of the family of fibers with mean
direction . For perfectly aligned fibers (), ; and for randomly distributed fibers (), .
The first two terms in the expression of the strain energy function represent the
distortional and volumetric contributions of the noncollagenous isotropic ground material,
and the third term represents the contributions from the different families of collagen
fibers, taking into account the effects of dispersion. A basic assumption of the model is
that collagen fibers can support tension only, because they would buckle under compressive
loading. Thus, the anisotropic contribution in the strain energy function appears only
when the strain of the fibers is positive or, equivalently, when . This condition is enforced by the term , where the operator stands for the Macauley bracket and is defined as .
The initial deviatoric elasticity tensor, , and bulk modulus, , are given by
where is the fourth-order unit tensor, and is the Heaviside unit step function.
Holzapfel-Ogden Form
The form of the strain energy potential is based on that proposed by Holzapfel and Ogden (2009) for modeling passive mechanical response of myocardium
tissue, which is an orthotropic material:
where is the strain energy per unit of reference volume; , , , , , , , , and D are temperature-dependent material
parameters; is the first deviatoric strain invariant; is the elastic volume ratio as defined below in Thermal Expansion; and , , and are pseudo-invariants of and fiber family directions and . The number of fiber family directions, , can be either 1 or 2. If , the third and fourth terms in the strain energy potential are ignored.
The operator stands for the Macauley bracket and is defined as .
The initial deviatoric elasticity tensor, , and bulk modulus, , are given by
where is the fourth-order unit tensor.
Linearization of Holzapfel-Ogden Strain Energy Potential
If the material is stretched significantly, the second and third exponential terms in
the Holzapfel-Ogden strain energy potential might overflow numerically. To avoid this,
the exponential terms can be linearized/approximated by polynomial functions when the
stretch in the fiber direction reaches a certain value .
The linearization stretch in the fiber direction, , directly determines the stretch value at which the second exponential
term in the strain energy potential is linearized. The third exponential term in the
strain energy potential is linearized at a value of the sheet stretch, , that is calculated internally by equating the stiffness in the sheet
direction (at ) with the corresponding stiffness in the fiber direction (at ). These stretches are written to the data (.dat)
file when you request printout of the model definition data. The value of the
linearization stretch must be . If you do not specify the linearization stretch, the exponential
terms in the strain energy potential are not linearized.
Kaliske-Schmidt Form
The form of the strain energy potential is based on that proposed by Kaliske et al. (2004) for modeling reinforced polymeric materials and
biomaterials:
where is the strain energy per unit of reference volume; , , , , , , ( and ), and D are temperature-dependent material
parameters; and are the first and second deviatoric strain invariants; is the elastic volume ratio as defined below in Thermal Expansion; and , , , , and are pseudo-invariants of and fiber family directions and . is a geometric constant. The number of fiber family directions, , can be either 1 or 2. If , the fifth, sixth, and seventh terms in the strain energy potential are
ignored.
The initial deviatoric elasticity tensor, , and bulk modulus, , are given by
where is the fourth-order unit tensor.
User-Defined Form: Strain-Based
Alternatively, you can define the form of a strain-based strain energy potential directly
with user subroutine UANISOHYPER_STRAIN in Abaqus/Standard or VUANISOHYPER_STRAIN in Abaqus/Explicit. The derivatives of the strain energy potential with respect to the components of the
modified Green strain and the elastic volume ratio, , must be provided directly through these user subroutines.
Either compressible or incompressible behavior can be specified in Abaqus/Standard; only nearly incompressible behavior is allowed in Abaqus/Explicit.
Optionally, you can specify the number of property values needed as data in the user
subroutine as well as the number of solution-dependent variables (see About User Subroutines and Utilities).
User-Defined Form: Invariant-Based
Alternatively, you can define the form of an invariant-based strain energy potential
directly with user subroutine UANISOHYPER_INV in Abaqus/Standard or VUANISOHYPER_INV in Abaqus/Explicit. Either compressible or incompressible behavior can be specified in Abaqus/Standard; only nearly incompressible behavior is allowed in Abaqus/Explicit.
Optionally, you can specify the number of property values needed as data in the user
subroutine and the number of solution-dependent variables (see About User Subroutines and Utilities).
The derivatives of the strain energy potential with respect to the strain invariants must
be provided directly through user subroutine UANISOHYPER_INV in Abaqus/Standard and VUANISOHYPER_INV in Abaqus/Explicit.
Definition of Preferred Material Directions
You must define the preferred material directions (or fiber directions) of the anisotropic
hyperelastic material.
For strain-based forms (such as the Fung form and user-defined forms using user subroutines
UANISOHYPER_STRAIN or VUANISOHYPER_STRAIN), you must specify
a local orientation system (Orientations) to define the
directions of anisotropy. Components of the modified Green strain tensor are calculated with
respect to this system.
For invariant-based forms of the strain energy function (such as the Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden
form, the Holzapfel-Ogden form, the Kaliske-Schmidt form, and user-defined forms using user
subroutines UANISOHYPER_INV or VUANISOHYPER_INV), you must specify
the local direction vectors, , that characterize each family of fibers. These vectors need not be
orthogonal in the initial configuration. Up to three local directions can be specified as
part of the definition of a local orientation system (Defining a Local Coordinate System Directly); the local
directions are referred to this system.
In Abaqus/CAE, the local direction vectors of the material are orthogonal and align with the axes of
the assigned material orientation. The best practice is to assign the orientation using
discrete orientations in Abaqus/CAE.
Material directions can be output to the output database as described in Output below.
Compressibility
Most soft tissues and fiber-reinforced elastomers have very little compressibility compared
to their shear flexibility. This behavior does not warrant special attention for plane
stress, shell, or membrane elements, but the numerical solution can be quite sensitive to
the degree of compressibility for three-dimensional solid, plane strain, and axisymmetric
elements. In cases where the material is highly confined (such as an O-ring used as a seal),
the compressibility must be modeled correctly to obtain accurate results. In applications
where the material is not highly confined, the degree of compressibility is typically not
crucial; for example, it would be quite satisfactory in Abaqus/Standard to assume that the material is fully incompressible: the volume of the material cannot
change except for thermal expansion.
Compressibility in Abaqus/Standard
In Abaqus/Standard the use of “hybrid” (mixed formulation) elements is required for incompressible
materials. In plane stress, shell, and membrane elements the material is free to deform in
the thickness direction. In this case special treatment of the volumetric behavior is not
necessary; the use of regular stress/displacement elements is satisfactory.
Compressibility in Abaqus/Explicit
With the exception of the plane stress and one-dimensional cases, it is not possible to
assume that the material is fully incompressible in Abaqus/Explicit because the program has no mechanism for imposing such a constraint at each material
calculation point. Instead, some compressibility must be modeled. The difficulty is that,
in many cases, the actual material behavior provides too little compressibility for the
algorithms to work efficiently. Thus, except for the plane stress case, you must provide
enough compressibility for the code to work, knowing that this makes the bulk behavior of
the model softer than that of the actual material. Failing to provide enough
compressibility might introduce high frequency noise into the dynamic solution and require
the use of excessively small time increments. Some judgment is, therefore, required to
decide whether or not the solution is sufficiently accurate or whether the problem can be
modeled at all with Abaqus/Explicit because of this numerical limitation.
If no value is given for the material compressibility of the anisotropic hyperelastic
model, by default Abaqus/Explicit assumes the value , where is the largest value of the initial shear modulus (among the different
material directions). The exception is for the case of user-defined forms, where some
compressibility must be defined directly within user subroutine UANISOHYPER_INV or VUANISOHYPER_INV.
Thermal Expansion
Both isotropic and orthotropic thermal expansion is permitted with the anisotropic
hyperelastic material model.
The elastic volume ratio, , relates the total volume ratio, J, and the thermal
volume ratio, :
is given by
where are the principal thermal expansion strains that are obtained from the
temperature and the thermal expansion coefficients (Thermal Expansion).
Viscoelasticity
Anisotropic hyperelastic models can be used in combination with isotropic viscoelasticity
to model rate-dependent material behavior (Time Domain Viscoelasticity). Because
of the isotropy of viscoelasticity, the relaxation function is independent of the loading
direction. This assumption might not be acceptable for modeling materials that exhibit
strong anisotropy in their rate-dependent behavior; therefore, this option should be used
with caution.
The anisotropic hyperelastic response of rate-dependent materials (Time Domain Viscoelasticity) can be specified by defining either the instantaneous
response or the long-term response of such materials.
Stress Softening
The response of typical anisotropic hyperelastic materials, such as reinforced rubbers and
biological tissues, under cyclic loading and unloading usually displays stress softening
effects during the first few cycles. After a few cycles the response of the material tends
to stabilize and the material is said to be preconditioned.
Stress softening effects, often referred to in the elastomers literature as Mullins effect,
can be accounted for by using the anisotropic hyperelastic model in combination with the
pseudo-elasticity model for Mullins effect in Abaqus (see Mullins Effect). The stress softening effects provided by this
model are isotropic.
Elements
The anisotropic hyperelastic material model can be used with solid (continuum) elements,
finite-strain shells (except S4), continuum
shells, and membranes. When used in combination with elements with plane stress
formulations, Abaqus assumes fully incompressible behavior and ignores any amount of compressibility specified
for the material.
The invariant-based anisotropic hyperelastic material model is also available with
one-dimensional elements (trusses and rebars) in Abaqus/Explicit. In this case, Abaqus/Explicit assumes fully incompressible material behavior.
Pure Displacement Formulation Versus Hybrid Formulation in Abaqus/Standard
For continuum elements in Abaqus/Standard anisotropic hyperelasticity can be used with the pure displacement formulation elements
or with the “hybrid” (mixed formulation) elements. Pure displacement formulation elements
must be used with compressible materials, and “hybrid” (mixed formulation) elements must
be used with incompressible materials.
In general, an analysis using a single hybrid element is only slightly more
computationally expensive than an analysis using a regular displacement-based element.
However, when the wavefront is optimized, the Lagrange multipliers might not be ordered
independently of the regular degrees of freedom associated with the element. Thus, the
wavefront of a very large mesh of second-order hybrid tetrahedra might be noticeably
larger than that of an equivalent mesh using regular second-order tetrahedra. This might
lead to significantly higher CPU costs, disk space, and memory requirements.
Incompatible Mode Elements in Abaqus/Standard
Incompatible mode elements should be used with caution in applications involving large
strains. Convergence might be slow, and in hyperelastic applications inaccuracies may
accumulate. Erroneous stresses might sometimes appear in incompatible mode anisotropic
hyperelastic elements that are unloaded after having been subjected to a complex
deformation history.
In addition to the standard output identifiers available in Abaqus (Abaqus/Standard Output Variable Identifiers and Abaqus/Explicit Output Variable Identifiers), local material
directions are output whenever element field output is requested to the output database. The
local directions are output as field variables
(LOCALDIR1,
LOCALDIR2,
LOCALDIR3) representing the direction
cosines; these variables can be visualized as vector plots in the Visualization module of Abaqus/CAE (Abaqus/Viewer).
Output of local material directions is suppressed if no element field output is requested
or if you specify not to have element material directions written to the output database
(see Specifying the Directions for Element Output).
References
Gasser, T.C., R. W. Ogden, and G. A. Holzapfel, “Hyperelastic
Modelling of Arterial Layers with Distributed Collagen Fibre
Orientations,” Journal of the Royal Society
Interface, vol. 3, pp. 15–35, 2006.
Holzapfel, G.A., T. C. Gasser, and R. W. Ogden, “A
New Constitutive Framework for Arterial Wall Mechanics and a Comparative Study
of Material Models,” Journal of
Elasticity, vol. 61, pp. 1–48, 2000.
Holzapfel, G.A., and R. W. Ogden, “A
Constitutive Modelling of Passive Myocardium: a Structurally based Framework for Material Characterization,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 367, pp. 3445–3475, 2009.
Kaliske, M., J. Schmidt, G. Lin, and G. Bhashyam, “Implementation of Nonlinear Anisotropic Elasticity at Finite Strains into ANSYS® Including Viscoelasticity and Damage,” 22nd CAD-FEM Users’ Meeting 2004 International Congress on FEM Technology with ANSYS CFX & ICEM CFD Conference, 2004.
Spencer, A.J.M., “Constitutive
Theory for Strongly Anisotropic Solids,” A.
J. M. Spencer (ed.), Continuum Theory of the Mechanics of Fibre-Reinforced
Composites, CISM Courses and Lectures No. 282, International Centre for
Mechanical Sciences, Springer-Verlag,
Wien, pp. 1–32, 1984.